Woman accused in murder of molester takes plea deal

BATON ROUGE – Brittany Monk, one of two high-profile murder suspects arrested in connection with the death of a man that faced charges for molesting her as a child, pleaded guilty in a surprise deal Monday.

Monk pleaded guilty to manslaughter and will testify against Jace Crehan who was also implicated in the crime. Crehan and Monk were engaged when prosecutors said they killed Robert Noce, Jr, 47.

Noce was found stabbed, strangled and stuffed in a 55-gallon drum in his kitchen in 2015.

Crehan is charged with murder for the killing.

Monk was seven-months pregnant when she was arrested and she gave birth to her baby in jail.

After the killing, the WBRZ News 2 Investigative Unit found court documents that revealed more about the history between Noce and Monk. The documents accuse Noce of years of abuse against Monk, who was her stepfather. The pair lived together after Monk's mother left them and two younger children. According to the court records, Monk's mother left after being raped by Noce.

In court filings, Monk said the abuse lasted for years, until she moved back in with her mother and reported the abuse when she was 15-years-old, in 2012.

At the time of their arrest for Noce's murder, Crehan and Monk discussed a similar murder in the 1980s when Gary Plauche, who was not sentenced to prison for killing his son's abuser, shot the suspect in the airport.

“We believe that the resolution of Ms. Monk’s case is reasonable. We feel that a manslaughter plea where the court decides the appropriate sentence is appropriate. In fact, we have made the same offer in Mr. Crehan’s case to the State of Louisiana and it is our hope that the State allows him to have the same resolution as Ms. Monk," Crehan's attorney, Franz Borghardt, said in a statement.